Having a relaxing time in Arequipa

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After all our adventures in Manu, Salkantay and Puno, it was time to bid farewell to Cuzco and head to Arequipa, which was the second city in Peru after Lima (there is some dispute with Cuzco about that...). The sky was blue when we landed and we immediately fell in love with this colourful city. It is surrounded by snow capped mountains and volcanoes.

Apperently when one of the Inca chiefs saw the region for the first town, he said in Quechua Language: "Ari quepay", which means "Yes, stay". Arequipa is also known as the Ciudad Blanca (White City) as a lot of the buildings there are made from silar, a white volcanic rock. Allegedly, it has 300 days of sunshine a year, which was not hard for us to believe as the sky was always so clear and blue when we were there. The Plaza de Armas is beautiful and there are many churches, convents and museums to visit. The buildings are painted in colourful and bright hues and the restaurants serve very good food. What is there not to like?

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